Dr. Anis Chalhoub was convicted of
helath fraud for implanting pacemakers without good medical reason. He was
sentenced to 42 months in prison. He wants to be released pending appeal.
The court said no. He has not raised any substantial question of law or
fact that would result in the reversal of his conviction.

US v BabichGuilty

The former CEO of Insys, Michael Babich, has
plead guilty to conspiracy and mail fraud and agreed to testify against the
others on trial for a lighter sentence. The company paid bribes to
physicians for prescribing Subsys. The company has agreed to pay a fine of
$150 million for its dastardly acts. Top

Healthcare

The Democratic attorney generals have
officially appealed the Texas judge's ruling that Ocare is illegal. This
is no surprise to anyone as the judge had stayed his ruling until the appeal is
completed, that means to the Supremes.

California v UnitedHealthcareCalifornia Supreme Court

The California high court affirmed the
$91 million fine against the parent of PacifiCare for their 900,000 alleged
violations of state insurance claim laws. They refused to rear a review of
the appellate court.

In a huge case a federal judge has
allowed this to continue. The case involves what happened 72 years a go
when physicians from The Rockefeller Foundation and Johns Hopkins gave syphilis
to hundreds of Guatemalans in order to test the new antibiotic Penicillin made
by Bristol-Meyers. The damages may be up to $1 Billion. This is the equivalent
of the old Tuskegee blacks who were infected with syphilis and then left
untreated.

Entities v Purdue PharmaHartford Superior Court

Finally, some sanity may be on the
horizon. A Superior Court Judge has tossed the cases of 37 cities and
towns against Purdue and others for their role in the opiod crisis. The
judge hit it on the head when he said the cases were filed as ordinary civil
cases and seeking to get money damages for indirect harm. The cities will probably
throw more taxpayer money around for an appeal.
Top

HIPAA

Doe v Aetna Life InsuranceMD Florida

A federal judge has ruled that a case
by an HIV person against the company can go forward. The person states
that the company sent a letter to "him" where his HIV status could be
viewed through the envelope's large transparent window. He sued under
Florida law in federal court. Aetna has already paid a $17 million fine
for its actions.

Doe One v CaremarkSD Ohio

In a cousin to the above case a judge
has allowed a class action suit to go forward against the company for disclosing
the HIV status of 6000 people in various mailings. The basis is the same
the windows were too large.

Brown v MortensenCA App

The plaintiff owed a debt to his
dentist who referred the matter to a collection agency. The suit claims
the agency owned by Mortensen transmitted confidential medical information to
consumer credit agencies. The trial court denied the plaintiff's request
for a jury trial since he was seeking only nominal damages and attorney
fees. The Court of appeal said the plaintiff has a right to a jury trial
under the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act. The court said there
could only be a trial on the damages claim not the legal fees since there is no
right to legal fees under the Act. Top

Hospitals

Munden v Los Robles Regional
Medical CenterSettlement

In a class action suit where the lead defendant
will be paid all of $15,000, the hospital will pay $2.96 million to settle
allegations that they shortchanged employee overtime and hourly pay as well as
other labor law violations. This is the second suit against the hospital
for this. The first was settled in 2015 where the respiratory therapists
and the hospital paid $4,75 million. Here the just over 3000 employees
would get an average of $618. The attorneys would garner $973,000.
The hospital would also pay fines to the state of $10,000. One employee challenged
the settlement and 74 opted out.

Enstad v PeaceHealthSettlement

The plaintiff was denied coverage for
treatment of his transgender surgery by the Catholic organization. The settlement
saw the organization switch insurers to now allow transgender surgery but still
exclude coverage for mastectomies and chest reconstruction surgery as a treatment
for gender dysphoria.

Malpractice

In re Avandia Marketing Sales Practices 3rd Circuit

The company has a duty to warn physicians not patients under
Utah's learned intermediary doctrine. Therefore the case was dismissed as
filed by a user.

Smith v Detroit Medical CenterFiled

The plaintiff had the bad fortune to come to this hospital ED
as there was an area power outage and the hospital was running on partial power
as required under state law. Because of the failure the elevator was not
working and the cardiac cath lab was not functioning. She eventually was
transferred to another hospital two hours later but she died. She was 87
years old.

The state high court ruled that a med mall claim that occurred
during a delivery in the ob unit must meet the willful and wonton standard of
proof under Texas law. The lawyer tried to claim that since the mother was
first seen in the ED before being admitted to the ob suite that the higher
standard would not apply. The shoulder dystocia happened in the ob suite
and is therefore covered under the law, period.
Top

Peer Review and Employment

Saxena v UMassFiled

Vishal Saxena is suing his medical
school for allowing his harassment by students and staff and for refusing to accommodate
his medical problem. He states he began in the school in 2014 and had
severe problems due to allergic reactions to formaldehyde. He asked to be
accommodated for his condition but he says the school refused. He states
that due to the allergy he was unable to continue his training.
Top

DISCLAIMER: Although this article is updated periodically,
it reflects the author's point of view at the time of publication.
Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Readers should consult with
their own legal counsel before acting on any of the information presented.